Ten things to know about Alex Avant

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It’s been almost a year since Alex Avant made Mercer University history with his SportsCenter Top 10 and ESPNU #Great8 Play of the Week interception in the game against Drake University. Since then, Mercer has faced Duke in basketball and moved to the Southern Conference. So what is Avant doing now?

A junior with a marketing major, Avant is still playing football for Mercer. He is working toward a career in sports marketing, a career inspired by his uncle, who has been working with the Atlanta Falcons for almost a decade now.

He also has a brother who goes to Mercer and plays on the football team, too. Although they are a year apart, Avant says that the two are often confused as twins. When asked about his future plans, Avant said, “I know my brother wants to be an entrepreneur, so I was thinking of getting together with him and opening a store like a Sports Authority or a sporting goods store.”

Of course, Avant has a life outside of football as well. When asked what he likes to do for fun, Avant said that he enjoyed watching movies, playing video games at home or hanging out with his friends. “I like going out, if I get the chance on the weekends to maybe go downtown with my friends.”

Avant said that his favorite movies include “Friday” and “Drumline,” and he likes any drama movie that he can find. He also enjoys playing NBA video games while hanging out in his room.

He started playing football when he was eleven although it was not the first sport that he played. He originally started with baseball and basketball and only got interested in football when his friends began playing. “A lot of my friends played baseball and football, so I was like, might as well try it out, and I’ve loved it ever since then.”

“I was a little small, so my mom was scared,” said Avant. His mother, an occupational therapist, attends every game with Avant’s father, who works with Verizon. “Even thought I’m in college, I see them all the time. My mom’s from Macon, too, so I have a lot of family here.”

When asked about the famous interception of last year, Avant said, “When it happened, I had no idea it was going to be as big as it was, with ESPN and all that. Actually in the play, I had no idea what it looked like, that it looked as good as it did. I was trying to do the best that I could to help the team.”